Trending

Anti-LGBT Congressman Tim Huelskamp Loses Re-Election Bid

Last night, Kansas Republican Tim Huelskamp lost his race for re-election to a primary challenger who said that the three-term congressman’s tense relationship with House leadership was detrimental to the congressional district.

While LGBT issues did not play a major role in the campaign, Huelskamp’s hardline anti-LGBT stances made him a favorite of the Religious Right.

At a 2014 National Organization for Marriage rally, he told “real men” to “stand up” against same-sex marriage in order to protect “your woman” and warned that marriage equality would “destroy the institution of marriage and of [the] family.”

As Think Progress reported back in 2012, Huelskamp has put his words into action:

The most anti-gay member of Congress has been freshman Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS). As the author of his state’s constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages and civil unions, during his previous tenure as a state senator, his anti-gay fervor in Washington is not unexpected. In his first 18 months, he has authored an amendment to ban a directive that allows military chaplains to voluntarily solemnize same-sex unions, an amendment to “prohibit the use of funds to be used in contravention of the Defense of Marriage Act,” and a bill to ban the use of military facilities for any same-sex unions. He also co-sponsored three measures to criticize the Obama administration for not defending the Defense of Marriage Act, to direct the Speaker of the House to defend the law instead, and to delay implementation of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal.

Fortunately for the Religious Right, there are still many anti-LGBT lawmakers who will carry on Huelskamp’s work in Congress.